Air or gas lift for fluids.



FATE-MED. APR. 26., 1 904 w. 'B. HARRIS. AIR 0R GAS LIFT FOR FLUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED JU 'LY'B, 1903'.

ZSIIEBTS-SKEET 1.

116 MODEL.

'PATENTBD APR. 26,1904.

w. B. HARRIS. I .AIROR GAS LIFT F R FLUIDS.

APILIOATION IILED JULY 6, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- lie HODEL.

UNITED STATES IPatented. April 26, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WVALTER B. HARRIS, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

AIR on GAS LIFT Fon FLUID-S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,360, dated April 26, 1904.

Application filed m 6, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, WALTER B. HARRIS, of

the casing to act upon the surface of the water or other fluid to force the same downward and the use of a suction means, such as an ejector or similar means, for drawing up the fluid and expelling it. The ejector acts not only as a suction means to draw the water a from below, butalso the air escaping from the ejector enters thesfluid above to lighten it, so that such apparatus possesses the benefit of pumps acting on the'submergence idea and of pumps acting'on the ejector idea and of pumps acting on the idea of introducing compressed air upon the body of liquid, so as to 7 increase the pressure above that of the atmoscomparatively very low pressure of air.

phere. This enables the pump to lift the fluid from a greater depth than pumps acting on any one or any two of the ideas specified, and by multiplying the number of ejectors the device can pump from a greater depth. In the form herein shown one or more receiving chambers or cylinders are located in the well to receive the'fluid below. In case of deep wells it is desirable to place these receiving-cylinders at certain distances apart and lift the fluid from one to the other in succession by the air or gas lift, so that the fluid can be pumped from a very deep well witlllga y dividing a well two thousand feet deep into four sections of five hundred feet each the same air-pressure that would lift the water or oil five hundred feet would lift it the whole distance.

Another feature consists in the form of the Serial No. 164,358. (No model.)

ejector so that the point where the compressed air enters the delivery tube or side of the ejector will be a considerable distance from the point where the fluid enters said ejector, so that there will be a considerable column of liquid in the delivery side of the ejector to prevent -the incoming compressed air from escaping downward and out of the ejector. This column of liquid should be preferably in a full-sized pump six or eight feet deep. Another feature consists in making the ejector U-shaped, with the air-inlet and the delivery-outlet sides at the upper end of the U and an inlet at the lower end of the U and having a partition dividing the deliv-' ery side of the ejector into two passage-ways, one for the air and the other for the liquid.

The full nature of my invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

tical longitudinal section of said pump, parts being broken away, as shown, in order that a three-section pump could be shown in one figure. Fig. 2'is a transverse section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. i is'a transverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. .5 is a central vertical section of the siphon onan enlarged scale. Fig. 6 shows a modified form as compared with Fig. 1, be-,

ing the arrangement used for a single section or short lift.

There is shown in the drawings a casing 10, that is driven into the ground, as is well known, resting upon a stratum of rock 11, into which the drill has penetrated to form the lower part of the well 12. On the upper end of the easing 10 a head 13 is secured, so as to be airtight, Into this casing there are placed as many air or gas inlet tubes 14; as there are sections in the pump, and the number of sections is determined by the depth of the well. Each section may be about five hundred feet in length. These sections are formed by the re ceiving-cylinders 15 placed about five hundred feet apart, the lower one about five hundred feet from the bottom of the well and the upper one about five hundred feet from the In the drawings, Figure l is a central ver-.

top of the well, so that the device .shown in Fig. 1 is adapted for a well about fifteen hundred feet deep. These cylinders have open tops and closed bottoms 16, through which such of the pipes 14 as may pass throughthe bottom 16 are secured. The cylinders are also held by the delivery-pipes 17, that run from section to section, the lower one running from the bottom of the well. The cylinders 15 are preferably smaller than the main casing 10, so as to readily enter and permit the air or gas to pass by the cylinders.

There is an ejector 20 in each cylinder or receiving-chamber and one at the bottom of the well, the latter being secured to the strainer 21. The pipes that pass through the bottoms of the cylinders are threaded at their ends where they pass through and extend but a slight distance above and are coupled with the pipes above by the couplings 22. The ejector will be understood from Fig. 5, it having a compressed air or gas inlet passage-way 24, an outlet or return passage-way'25 parallel with the former, a suction opening or intake- 26 at the lower end, and a partition 27 between the passage-ways 2 1 and 26 for turning the air or gas current upward and causing the suction.

The modified form shown in Fig. 6 presents. 'a single section, the cylinders 15 and the duplicate parts shown in Fig. 1 being omitted. 30 is an air or gas inlet tube for introducing compressed air or gas upon the surface of the fluid within the well. It merely enters the casing 10, and air or gas is introduced through it at a somewhat lower pressure than that introduced through the pipe 14.

It is to be noticed that in a deep-well pump with a plurality of sections all the air going to the ejectors below the top one passes out through the delivery-tubes from said ejectors and discharges into the casing, thus cooperating with the pipe 30 in supplying the casing with a volume of compressed air or gas to force down the body of fluid in the uppermost receiving-chamber and help discharge it at the mouth of the well.

The operation will now be explained. Referring first to the form shown in Fig. 6, the simpler form, compressed air or gas from any suitable source is introduced into the pipe 14, and it passes downward through the ejector and upward through the delivery-pipe 17, and it will draw up into the ejector and force out through the delivery-pipe whatever fluid.

may be in proximity to the strainer 21 or in the bottom of the well. To assist, air or gas may be introduced through the pipe 30, that will press down upon the body of fluid in the upper chamber and tend to force it out through the upper ejector 20 and delivery-tube 17, thus cooperating with the other means specified. \Vith the sectional pump construction shown in Fig. 1 compressed air or gas is inthe wall.

troduced into all three of the pipes 14. The pipe 14:, entering at the left-hand side, runs entirely down to the bottom of the well to the lower ejector, and the compressed air or gas passing downward through it' will act with the same force as if the ejector were located near the top, inasmuch as said pipe is free from obstruction. The air or gas passes from it through the lower ejector and pumps the fluid into the first cylinder-chamber 15 above, the lower delivery-tube 17 extending slightly above the bottom of the cylinder, Then the compressed air or gas through the upper right-hand pipe 14 at the top will be conveyed by said pipe to the second ejector from the bottom, which is within and near the lower end of the lower cylinder 15, and that will pump the fluid out of that cylinder into the cylinder above. Then compressed air or gas through the lower right-hand pipe 14: above will convey the air to the upper ejector, which'is within the upper cylinder, and will force or pump the fluid from that cylinder out through the delivery-pipe 17, leading from the upper ejector to the top of Thus it is seen by reason of this multiplied arrangement fluid can be lifted from a fifteen-hundred-foot well with the same pressure as from a five-hundred-foot well, inasmuch as there is no single lift of over five hundred feet. This may be multiplied further, so as to pump from a five-thousand-foot well with the same low pressure, there being a pipe 14:, an ejector 20, and a cylinder 15 added for each additional section.

Since the air-supply pipe for the ejector in each section does substantially the same work, they may all be of the same size, and the ejectors will be of the same size, as well as the cylinders 15. This pump is simple and not liable to get out of order, as it consists of pipes open throughout and free from obstruction by valves or delicate parts. Ablowofl' pipe 40 is provided at the upper end of the casing with a valve 41, so as to relieve the pressure within the casing if it becomes excessive. It is thus seen that the compressed air entering the pipe 30 will create a greater pressure on the body of fluid than the atmospheric pressure, and thus tend all the more to force the fluid on the outside up the delivery-tube, and the ejector creates asuction, so as to cooperate with said outside pressure in drawing the liquid up the delivery-tube, thus one supplementing the other. The ejector also introduces air into the column of liquid above it, so as to lighten it and increase its volume and enable the outside pressure and the supplementary suction of the ejector to elevate the fluid all the higher.

By ejector in this inventionI mean a device that not only tends to eject the fluid above it, but also to elevate by suction or draw up fluid below it and eject that fluid, so that the ejector works on the fluid below as well as the fluid above-that is, it works in both directions by way of ejecting the fluid.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An air or gas lift for fluids including an air-tight casing, an ejector that tends to draw up fluid from below and to force the fluid above it out of the casing, and means for introducing compressed air or gas into the casing upon the body of fluid therein to cooperate with said said delivery-tube that tends to draw up fluid in said tube below the ejector and to force the fluid above the ejector out of the casing, and a compressed-air pipe leading to said ejector.

.3. An air or gas lift for fluids including a compressed-air-supply pipe, a fluid-delivery tube, and an ejector connecting the two, said ejector having its fl uid-inlet appreciably below the point where the compressed air enters the delivery-tube so that a column of fluid will be maintained in the ejector to resist the escape of the compressed air through the fluidin ct.

t. An air or gas lift for fluids including a delivery-tube, a compressed-air pipe and an ejector connecting the compressed-air pipe with the delivery-tube, said ejector having an outlet passage-way connecting with the delivery-tube, a compressed-air passage-way leading from the compressed-air pipe and that is partially parallel with the outlet passageway an inlet passage-way leading to the outlet passage-way, and a partition between the compressed-air passage-way and the inlet passage-way extending to the outlet passage-way so that the latter part of the compressed-air passage-way is parallel with the latter part'of the inlet passage-way, and all parts of said ejector being formed integral.

5. An air or gas lift for fluids including an air-tight casing, a series of ejectors within the casing arranged one below the other at intervals, means for conveying compressed air to the ejectors., a delivery-tube leading from each ejector to the one above it and from the upper ejector out of the casing, and means for introducing compressed air or gas into the casing to press down upon the body of fluid therein to cooperate with said ejectors.

6. An air or gas lift for fluids including an air-tight casing, a comparatively short cylinder in the casing of smaller diameter than the casing and with its upper end opening into the casing to act as a receiving-chamber for the fluid, and means for elevating the fluid first into said cylinder and then from said cylinder out of the casing, and means for introducing compressed air or gas into the upper end of the casing so it will press down upon the fluid in the cylinderand also pass the cylinder.

In witness whereof I have hereunto aflixed my signature 1n the presence of the witnesses herein named.

' WALTER B. HARRIS. Vitnesses:

JACOB F. MARKS, Jonson J. Snnnrz. 

